


You-Do-Not-Know-Who

by Marcus_Vici



Series: The Two Sides of a Coin [1]
Category: No Fandom
Genre: A few non-graphic character deaths, Be prepared for the open final, Dark Magic, F/M, Fairy Tale Retellings, Gen, Might & Magic, Monsters, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Part one of the duo, Poor Princess, Probably too much magic, Rumpelstitskin retelling, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Some trickery is involved, Written for a Class, bro moments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-03-01 12:06:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18800014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marcus_Vici/pseuds/Marcus_Vici
Summary: It`s hard to be a royal guard when everyone from peasants to some horrendous overpowered creatures want to destroy the Kindgdom you live in.





	You-Do-Not-Know-Who

Noel was never a coward. Even as a child he was always fearless, sometimes even to the point of insanity. Honestly, he is not even sure why he is still alive with such a behavior. What exactly saved him when he climbed up the highest tower in the city and performed a Leap of Faith? Or, alternatively, when he traveled down the sewer and was stricken with some defensive charm?

Probably, the main reason why he managed to survive to his adulthood is that he was never alone. 

Every time Noel got some new crazy idea stuck in his head, he went to his best friend. Seelos always listened to his emotional monologue with such a calm look on his face as if nothing in the whole world could ever stress him out, and then just said something like “okay” or “do I need to bring my stuff then?”.

Sadly enough, the childhood is long gone, and now Noel can`t just go to his friend and take him to another dangerous adventure - Seelos is the Heir after all. This, however, doesn`t mean that Noel fully abandoned his childhood habits and was no longer stuck in some insane situations. 

The man standing in front of him was an ordinary peasant: far from young, with uneven black beard and a slight squint. The more surprising it was that Noel (the royal guard!) and his ward (the King himself!) were left for the man`s mercy. 

When his Majesty said that he wants to perform some ritual in the woods and that the less people the better, he definitely didn`t think that an unknown magical anomaly will reverse his spell. But it did, and the ritual which was meant to create a protective shield outside of the woods instead made the King and his now useless guard isolated on a small area three by three meters.

When about half an hour later some guy stumbled upon them, Noel felt a true relief. This feeling, however, didn`t last long, because the peasant recognized the King, and instead of following his direct orders said the following:

“Your Majesty! I`ll do as you wish, but before that I want to suggest you an offer.”

“What offer?” the King frowned.

“My daughter, I assure you, is the perfect match for your son! Please, test her as you wish, and then make her the queen!”

The prasant`s eyes were glowing with excitement, but there was also something despicable in him, almost cruel. Noel with a sudden clarity realized that have they refused the offer, the man would do everything for them to stay here for as long as possible.

So the King agreed. Probably, he just thought that there is no way the girl could succeed through his tests. Noel knew what these tests are likely to be, and therefore heavily doubted that the peasant man is sane. This guy knows what the King would do with his daughter if she failed the test, right?

Anyway, the guy was happy to receive the King`s promise and now obediently followed the orders. He approached the pentagram drawn on the ground and erased it where he was told to. The charm soon was cancelled out, and the King, following his promise, came to the man`s house and took his daughter with him. 

Before leaving, Noel decided to make sure that the man understands that it may be the last time he sees his daughter, but it seemed like he didn`t care. The man was still looking too excited for someone who just gave away his own child.

Feeling suspicious, Noel did the same thing he was used to since childhood – told everything to Seelos. The Heir was sitting beside his table and patiently writing something certainly important, but Noel knew that his friend has a highly organized mind and therefore doesn`t have any problems comprehending two things at once. 

“…So I think I should observe the girl, secretly of course. Luckily enough, my magic is not entirely useless when it comes to surveillance.”

“By the way, why didn`t your portal magic work in that barrier which father made?” asked Seelos without taking his eyes off the piece of paper in front of him.

“Don`t know,” shrugged Noel. “Probably, for the same reason why the King couldn`t cancel the charm himself.”

“The anomaly? Interesting…” 

Noel sighed and took a sit: to get a proper response from his friend it is necessary to wait. Seelos at that time was thoughtfully gnawing his pencil, while reading the letter he just wrote. About a minute later he nodded to himself, signed the paper and stood up.

“I need to investigate the forest, probably will make something out of it,” he mused. “And yeah, you should definitely spy upon this girl. Take it as an official order from the future king.”

“But what about the current king? Should we tell this to his Majesty?”

Seelos was thinking for some time, but then he took the letter and concluded: “No. It`d be better not to distract father with that.”

Noel shrugged and stood up as well: he had a lot of things to do.

***

Seelos wasn`t the only child in his family – he had a younger brother. Alexios was very kind and surprisingly shy for a prince: he never accompanied him and Noel in their childhood adventures, but was the one who healed them afterwards thanks to his talent in life magic. Seelos, as a necromancer, was quite talented in the art of killing, but the more he appreciated his brother`s abilities. Because it is easy to destroy, but to restore is much harder.

Also, besides all his kindness and moral innocence, Alexios had a very strong volitional character, for which Seelos respected him enormously. The younger prince was indeed the one whom you could trust your life.

So when Alexios approached him and asked if he knows to whom the peasant girl would be married had she passed the test, Seelos didn`t hesitate to answer:

“Me,” he shrugged. “Father will test her blood if it is compatible with mine, because that peasant apparently wanted for her to be the queen.”

“Do you want to marry her then?” asked Alexios, looking thoughtful. 

“I actually don`t care. She or someone else – not a big difference.”

“Then what do you think if instead of yours it would be my blood with which the girl`s is tested?”

If not for his diminished emotionality inherent to everyone who follows the path of Death, Seelos would definitely be surprised.

“Does it mean that you want to marry her?”

“Actually, I don`t want her to be the queen,” mused Alexios. “It would bring us a lot of troubles, if the future king marries some peasant girl with no trail of magic. Besides, if she passes the test and becomes my wife, then I`ll be free to practice some of my ideas. To turn a non-magical into somewhat magical, for example,” he said with a smile,

Seelos didn`t see anything bad in this. After all, he believed his brother and knew that Alexios wouldn`t ask for something if he is not well aware of the consequences, so he agreed. 

When they informed the king of this decision, his Majesty hesitated for a bit, not sure if this does suffice the promise. Then, however, he recalled that the man didn`t clarify which son the girl should marry. Therefore, the King gave the idea a green light, and on the next day the girl`s blood was tested whether it can be used for the bonding ritual with the younger prince or not.

***

Noel started with his mission that same night. Aside from his somewhat mediocre abilities in portal magic, he was quite good at making himself invisible, so he had no troubles secretly observing the girl. 

His precaution was rewarded probably even too soon, because the girl had a guest sometime around midnight. To his surprise, Noel has never met the man before, not to mention that he could hardly remember at all anyone in the kingdom with such a light hair color. His own blond color was abnormal in the area, but the white hair of the man made him look almost like an alien.

It seemed that the girl didn`t know her guest as well, because she asked:

“Did the King send you here?”

The man smiled and took a look around with such attention that Noel unwittingly checked if his invisibility charm is still working.

“You want to marry the prince, young miss, but your blood is not a match for the royal one. Luckily, I can help you with that.”

The girl`s eyes widened, and she asked with hope in her voice:

“Are you serious? If you are, then please, take whatever you want, but help me!”

“Oh, I don`t need much,” he said with a wide grin. “I will transform your blood so that it`d pass the test, but for that I want to take twenty years of your life span.”

The girl was stunned, as well as Noel, but she apparently wanted to be the queen not less than her father did. She didn`t think for too long and quickly agreed for the offer, making Noel even more surprised. Do all peasant girls wish to waste twenty years of their life in exchange for a prince?

The unknown man performed a ritual, which looked as alien to their world as the man himself, and then quickly departed. Noel stayed in the room for the rest of the night, thinking if the man was caught by the royal guards or not. Either way, no more guests appeared that night, so he left the sleeping girl in her room once the sun rose up in the sky. 

As became evident from his talk with Seelos, no one similar to the unknown guest has ever entered the castle wards. The only people who saw the man were the girl, who would obviously deny this, and Noel himself. The blood test which was performed that day, however, has shown a positive result. The King, who wasn`t yet informed about the guest due to the lack of evidences, looked at his younger son with surprise, and Alexios gave him a reassuring smile. Seelos has already told him about what happened tonight, but he didn`t change his decision. As Alexios said: “it just means that I`ll have even more space for the experiments, brother”.

***

When Noel was observing the girl the night after the blood test, he was well-prepared for the unknown guest. He had Seelos attentively watching the castle`s wards and Alexios now accompanying the royal guards, but still, when the same man causally entered the room as if nothing of these really matters to him, he felt his left eye twitching. Who is this guy?

When the guest came in, the girl stood up, looking much more excited than yesterday - she knew that the man could indeed help her.

The next test would be to tie her hand with a special red string, and if the same appears on the Alexios`s hand, then the girl has a pass. Her guest, apparently, also knew the rules, so he provided her with another offer:

“I can enchant the string to appear on the prince`s hand, but in return I want a bit of your beautiful mind,” said the man and gave her a gentle smile. The girl blushed and quickly nodded her head.

“I agree, but could you please promise me that I`d still be able to feel happiness of being the queen?”

“You will, don`t worry about that. I`ll take only a tiny bit of it, you won`t even notice.”

Then Noel saw a ritual almost identical to the previous one, and soon after it had ended the man again disappeared. The castle wards were not interrupted, and Alexios as well as the guards didn`t catch anyone. Noel by this point would probably start questioning his sanity if not for the girl who now passed the second test: when her hand was bound by the red string, the same tied up Alexios`s, The King, though frowning, ordered to begin preparing for the wedding.

***

There was only one test left, and Noel was sure that the man will come again this night. As neither magic nor brute force could catch their unwanted guest, Noel and Seelos decided to choose another way – they`ll simply adjust the castle`s wards to resonate with the man`s magical aura. If they succeed, then his own magic will turn against him, and the man will never enter the castle again without feeling an unbearable pain.

This night Alexios was busy preparing for his wedding (he planned to start his first experiment just after the ceremony), while Seelos was again carefully inspecting the wards. This time, however, the Heir concentrated his attention on the girl`s room only, and by the end of the night he was sure that a very strange aura, which apparently belonged to the still unknown intruder, is interweaved inside the defensive system. The man would never again enter the castle without permission.

Noel, on his side, was doing the same thing as he did during the last two nights: standing in a dark corner, under an invisibility charm. If not for the energy potions which Seelos gave him, he would probably not make it to this point, but with their help he was sure that he would survive this night without falling asleep.

The alien-looking man came at the same time as before – at eleven fifty-four, - and gave the girl another smile. Noel noticed that today she looked even more excited than before and agreed to the offer without any hesitation, while he himself was shocked when he heard what the man wants in return.

“I`m sorry to say that, young miss, but the final test is a true challenge.”

“But you can do it, am I right?” asked the girl with such a naïve worry in her voice that Noel wondered, how much of her mind did the man actually take?

“Oh, of course I can,” his smile turned into a wide grin, but it seemed that the girl didn`t notice. “But for that you`ll give me your first child.”

“Y-yes, I will,” nodded the girl as if to give away your own child is a perfectly normal thing to do. “Please, do whatever you think is necessary, but make me the queen!”

While the two were involved into one more ritual, Noel was thinking vigorously. 

Now he was sure that whatever experiments Alexios is planning for his future wife, there better be something about mind control or at least a loyalty program. If the prince doesn`t want his child to be taken away by some definitely dangerous individual, then he should try really hard. Seelos most likely succeeded with the wards, but knowing how easily the man ignored them before, it`d be better for them all to be prepared. Who knows what the man is up to?

***

The final test took place the next day, and it was a predictable pass. When the clerics, who were encircling the young prince and his future wife, finished their long bonding spell, the wave of magic announced to everyone that the ceremony is approved. The girl accomplished her dream: she became a wife to the prince.

Earlier that morning, when Noel returned from his duty, he told everything to the two brothers. Together they decided that Alexios should try to heal the girl`s mind, at least partially, and in the process make her loyal to the family. Probably, if she regains her ability to love something aside her royal status, the she`ll be less vulnerable to a dangerous influence.

For the first couple of days after the ceremony Noel continued his night watch, but as no one appeared, the girl was moved to the joint bedroom, under the protection of her husband. A few months later she became pregnant, and soon after that the King was finally informed of the danger hovering over his grandson. The precautions became even stronger.

Sometimes Noel was thinking: what would happen if instead of being a silent observer at that time he intervened and tried to capture the intruder? As his friend said, and Noel was inclined to agree with him, no good. Even though he is quite skilled in an open one-to-one battle and a master of secret killing, he is more than useless when it comes to defensive magic. Of course, he could simply transport his ward with a portal – this is the main reason why he is a royal guard after all, - but then the enemy would escape as well. Moreover, even if he forgot about the girl, he still could not be sure that he would win over a creature with absolutely unknown powers. If the man have killed both him and the girl, then who knows what he would have done afterwards. 

Now, at least, they are all alive and well-prepared. When the man comes back for the child, they`ll be able to stop him and capture him at once.

***

The days slowly went by. Alexios was patiently working on transforming his wife for the good, while Noel continued his duties as a royal guard. 

Around two months before the birth of his nephew Seelos finally ended up investigating the woods where the whole story about the peasant girl began. As a result of his investigation, a small compass was created and placed on an enchanted shelf in the library. When Noel asked his friend why he created one more artifact (as if there are not enough in the treasury!), Seelos simply said that it was interesting to work on. 

At times like this Noel clearly realized, how similar the two brothers actually are.

***

Finally, a child was born. It was the end of May, and the weather was lovely, so the King made this day a holiday for everyone to enjoy the birth of his grandson. The boy was as ugly as all infants are, but he had the same eyes as Alexios, and even now it was clear that he`ll grow into a beautiful young man.

From this point on, the wards were temporarily returned to their old form, as if not hugely modified by Seelos. Each night either Noel or Alexios himself was watching over the child, waiting for the unnamed guest. 

The princess, even though she was successfully healed by her husband and now loved her family with all her heart, still thought that no one knows about her secret, and Alexios decided to leave it this way. If the man goes after his son and somehow reads the mind of his wife, at least he won`t know that he is in a trap.

It was Noel`s turn to guard the child when the man with white hair and cold blue eyes returned. By accident or not, the princess was insomnious that night, so she was sitting beside the cradle when the man came in as if he left her just yesterday. Some things, however, did change, because she was no longer the girl who accepted his final deal. Now she was terrified by the sight of him.

“D-don`t!” she proclaimed and stood in front of the cradle. “Don`t take him! You can take whatever else you want, but don`t even try to take my son away from me!”

Noel, who before was frowning at the feeling of déjà vu, heard the words of the princess and smiled. He prepared to give a signal for Seelos to close the trap, but didn`t, surprised by what the man said next:

“Do not worry, your Majesty. I assure you that I don`t want you to suffer, so we can make another deal, can`t we?” the compassion on his face looked so sincere that even Noel questioned if the man truly returned only to cancel the promise. “I`ll give you three days, and if you`ll guess my name correctly by that time, then I`ll leave your child with you and never trouble you ever again.”

Sounds quite simple. Is it though?

“How can I be sure that you`ll keep your promise?” asked the princess and narrowed her eyes.

“I never break my promises!” said the man, looking almost hurt by her distrust. “If I have planned to trick you from the very beginning, then you would not have become a princess you are now!”

These words definitely worked out well. Noel was looking attentively at the girl, not knowing what her response would be, but still glad that she didn`t go away and remained in front of the cradle. At least, the child won`t be taken that easily.

“Okay. Let`s make the deal, but then you`ll disappear from my life and never come back!” she said with a determined look. Although Noel wasn`t sure if her decision is right, at least now they have three more days. Doesn`t matter whether she guesses the name correctly or not – either way by the end of the third day the man will be already imprisoned. 

The only thing left is to make sure that their prey won`t escape.

***

By the end of the next day everything was ready: the king was safe in his room, with many guards hiding under charms; Seelos was able to turn the castle`s wards to their fullest at any moment; Alexios was pretending to sleep in his bad, listening attentively to what is happening in the nursery. Noel once again was lurking in the room with the princess.

When the intruder came in, he looked surprisingly relaxed, especially if comparing him to the visibly nervous princess. 

Noel once again asked himself, how does this man manage to come in and out of the castle with such an ease? He knew that the man`s magical aura appears and disappears just outside of the room, does it mean that the intruder has abilities similar to his?

“Is your name Bill?” started the princess, but her first guess was wrong. And the second. And the third as well. When a few hours later she ran out of ideas, the man gave her one more of his deceptive smiles and said:

“Today you didn`t guess my name right, but you still have two more days left. I`m sure you`ll be able to say it tomorrow.”

Noel, who has sent the signal to Seelos more than an hour ago and didn`t receive any response yet, was scowling at the man, not knowing if he should let him leave or not. When the door opened, and Noel didn`t see any sign of working wards or standing guards, he decided that he better let the man leave. Again.

In the morning it was revealed that the wards for some reason didn`t work on the intruder, even though any human being would have been crawling in pain. Their plan didn`t work, and the King said that they don`t have a right for another mistake – tonight Noel will finally reveal himself, and with the help of the most powerful royal wizards they will capture the man once and for all.

Alexios agreed with his father, but Seelos remained silent. He was frowning even more than usually. Finally, he suggested for his father to construct a protective shield over the nursery, so that no one could enter the room once the barrier is up. The King was thinking about this for a moment, but refused, saying that in this case the intruder might just wait until the shield is off, and that they need to keep him unaware of the trap for as long as possible.

Noel, however, was inclined to agree with his friend: the man said that he never breaks his promises, so it is possible that he won`t try to take the child away after the deal comes to an end. It`s his own problem that he cannot take the child, the princess didn`t break her part of the deal…

Anyway, this idea was refuted, so Noel prepared to reveal himself tonight. He was standing invisible in the same corner, absolutely silent, when the door opened. The princess, tired from the day spent in library, where she was searching for more uncommon names, stood up at the sight of her unwanted guest and started guessing. One name, another… Twenty minutes later Noel grabbed the throat of the man and quickly poured a strong paralyzing potion in his mouth. An instant pressure at the right place, and the intruder unwittingly swallowed some part of the potion before starting to cough. By that time the guards filled in the room as well as the wizards. The man was bound by the red glowing spells, and Noel now released his throat, taking a step back. Done.

The intruder was no longer smiling. His mouth was skewed by a hateful grin, and his eyes were colder than ever. With his white hair and very pale face he looked like he is made out of snow – so little life was left in his features. Pure ice.

Later Noel couldn`t tell what exactly happened at that time, so soon it was. At one moment their prisoner was standing under several binding charms, and at the next the wizards were casted aside. The guards reacted instantaneously: Noel stood in front of the cradle, protecting the child, while others attacked the enemy.

Their attempt was unsuccessful. The man showed magic which Noel has never seen before: it was so light that it blinded several people, so cold that it made muscles tremble.

When everyone aside from Noel and the princess were lying on the floor unconscious, the man finally stopped. He exhaled heavily and grinned at them almost wildly. 

“I always keep my promises,” he said slowly and disappeared in a flash of light.

***

The meeting in the King`s apartments proceeded in a somber mood. Seventeen people now under medical treatment, the intruder disappeared (again!), and the princess doesn`t leave her child for a single moment, absolutely horrified. 

What should they do?

“This creature is not a human being. I even doubt that he is from our world,” said Seelos in a low voice. “Our magic doesn`t work on him properly, and he is quite skilled in a direct fight. The only thing we can do is to use targeted defensive charms and hope that they`ll work.”

“The castle`s wards didn`t work,” the King replied.

“Yes, they didn`t. But we can concentrate them on protecting the residents instead of the castle itself, hopefully it would stop him from harming anyone.”

“Okay, we may do this,” the King slowly nodded his head. “Do any of you have other ideas how we can stop this monster?”

“His magic is astoundingly light. Probably, if he is encountered by Seelos, whose magic is an absolute opposite, he`ll have more difficulty dealing with the deathly darkness,” suggested Noel with a shrug.

“Maybe,” said Seelos. “But I`ll be busy with the wards, so I won`t be able to use all my powers if the necessity occurs.”

“True,” mused Alexios. “If we can`t fully stop him, then we should at least try to weaken him. Your Majesty?”

For a minute the room was silent, but then the King finally said:

“This creature is extremely dangerous. We cannot allow him to do whatever he wants for any longer,” he sighed. “I`ll use the Last Farewell and try to take as much magic away from him as possible. After that I most likely won`t survive, so be prepared to accept the crown, Seelos.”

The King was solid in his decision, so neither persuasion nor pleading worked on him. The plan was ready. 

No one in the castle slept that night.

***

The intruder, as always, arrived on time – eleven fifty-four. He was no longer pretending to be good, so he greeted the princess with a sneer.

She and the child were alone in the room, without any invisible individuals lurking at the corners. The girl`s face was showing nothing but fear. She didn`t even try to plead him, knowing that he`ll take his reward no matter what.

“I-is your n-name Maximillian?”

“Try again,” he replied and took the first step towards the mother and her son.

“Are y-you Nochidemus?” the girl standing in front of the cradle was shaking terribly, with her eyes watching his every move.

“Nuh, uh.”

He was standing right beside her, enjoying her fear with every bit of his cursed soul. Giant wings appeared behind his back white as snow and sharp as blades.

“Lucifer?” exhaled the girl almost silently.

He laughed, making her about to faint. When he stopped, he grinned even widely and folded his wings back.

“No, I am not Lucifer.”

In an instant he extended his right arm forwards and grabbed the girl by her neck. One move - and it was broken. 

He dropped her dead body on the floor and looked at the sleeping baby. Didn`t even wake up? Good boy…

He made one more step closer to the cradle, when something moved through his body. It felt as if he was stricken by a lightning. His body couldn`t move, and he roared when he felt his magic flowing away from him. He motioned his senses towards the source of this power and tried to shrink it, but couldn`t. He tried harder. Finally, he could feel the resistance dying out, and a few minutes later the source was gone. This, however, didn`t turn out as well as he thought it would be, and he realized that a huge part of his magic was gone with it.

He finally approached the cradle just to be met with a glowing red barrier. 

Filthy humans!

He couldn`t reach the child, but he felt where the controller of the wards is, so he quickly left the room and went after his next prey. 

No one can stop him from taking what he wants!

***

Noel, who was one of the guards in the King`s room, felt absolutely powerless. The king made his Last Farewell. This, accompanied by all the power which fell upon his Majesty, was making his state worse with every second. 

When he heard a noise from the wards control room, Noel froze. One of the other guards gave him a sharp nod. Noel clenched his teeth and stood up. He left the room and rushed through the corridors.

When he entered the control room, at first he thought that Seelos is dead. His friend was lying on the floor in a puddle of blood, with his eyes closed. Then, however, Noel saw Alexios, who was sitting beside his brother and muttering some magical words.

“He is alive. I`ll heal him,” answered Alexios to his silent question. The young prince had dark bags under his eyes and was breathing heavily, his skin more pale than ever.

“What it will cost you to heal him?” asked Noel with stunning realization. The prince smiled weakly and replied:

“Life for life.”

“W-what?!”

The prince almost laughed at his expression, but then he frowned and looked sharply at him:

“Go after the intruder and make sure he won`t disappear that easily. It`s an order.”

Noel couldn`t do anything else but to obey. 

He left the two princes in the room and ran towards the nursery. When he came here though, he saw the princess lying, most definitely dead. The cradle was empty.

He swore. Why is he so useless?! 

Doesn`t matter. He won`t let this bastard mock him for any longer!

Noel concentrated on his magic and exhaled heavily. Where is the child?

When he finally felt the trace of the so much hated magical aura right next to the child`s, he rushed there. As he saw while running down the corridors, the castle`s wards were still working: the red barrier protected residents from attacking wizards in white robes who came with their enemy. By this point the attacking forces were clearly retreating, so  
Noel just hoped that he won`t be late.

He caught the intruder in the yard. The enemy, accompanied by a few of his followers, was going towards the gates. Why didn`t he disappear earlier? Does it mean that Seelos finally managed to stop him from violating the wards?

The baby was in hands of the enemy, but Noel didn`t stop. He was sure that the man will protect the young prince.

Noel was never a coward. He was a warrior.

He started killing the accompanying wizards one by one, instantly transported back and forth by a portal, but it seemed that the intruder didn`t even notice. When, however, a few seconds later there was no one left but the man himself, he looked at Noel and narrowed his eyes.

“Oh, here comes the invisible man…”

“Give me the child.”

The man, who wasn`t actually a man, laughed, but stopped when Noel appeared right behind his back. Noel stabbed the man just under heart - the creature managed to recoil at the last second, - before the ground started shaking as from an earthquake. The man, who apparently was a spatial wizards as well, transported himself away from Noel and was now panting badly. His left side was red from blood.

“You`ll regret it, I promise you,” the man snarled, and a wave of powerful magic radiated from him. A large strangely glowing portal appeared in the middle of the yard, protected by a shimmering barrier. The light wizards started leaving the castle and approached the portal, disappearing in it one after another. Noel killed several of them before they had reached the barrier, but he wasn`t able to touch the shield himself. He growled when his most hated enemy went into the portal and disappeared. He, however, remembered every single piece of the portal`s magic, and when all the enemies were gone, tried to open the portal himself. It lasted only a few seconds, but he succeeded.

A month later, when it became evident that the attack on the castle wasn`t the only one and that the whole kingdom is dying because of some unknown spell, all the dark wizards  
gathered together. They were standing in a spacious yard, waiting.

Right in the middle of the yard were two friends: the King and his royal guard.

“Are you sure you could transport all of them through the portal?” asked Seelos, fully recovered from his wounds, but with an even more grim face than always. 

“I can,” Noel replied, trying to smile. “Not sure though if I won`t be lying dead afterwards.”

“You won`t. I`ll heal you.”

Noel looked at his friend, who just recently buried all of his family, and sighed. 

“Honestly, I`d prefer death over being a zombie, sorry.”

For the first time in the last month, Seelos lifted the corners of his lips in a feeble smile.

“Don`t worry, it`ll be fine.”

Noel smirked. Well, it`ll definitely be better than to stay in a dying world.

He opened the portal, and the wizards disappeared in it one by one. The monster, who destroyed their home, someday will pay for everything that he has done.

**Author's Note:**

> Congratulations to you who made it to the end!
> 
> As you`ve probably already guessed, I`m not a native English speaker. Therefore, a beta reader would be very much welcome :)


End file.
